


Tigerberry

by viyeolent (Doxophobia)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Basically based on their animal onesies, But Not by Chanyeol, Chill They're Actually Human, Cute, Drama & Romance, Fluff, M/M, Not Beta Read, Protective!Chanyeol, Tiger!Yeol/Squirrel!Baek, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 12:45:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6424702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doxophobia/pseuds/viyeolent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baekhyun the 'squirrel' believed life was good, poking fun at the lost penguin and gathering berries made life good. That is, until Chanyeol the 'tiger' caught him one morning and Baekhyun found himself snatched away from his old, simple life.</p><p>From then on, life was suddenly worse. But life was also suddenly better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tigerberry

**Author's Note:**

> Tagged as TigerYeol/SquirrelBaek, but they're all humans here. They're called squirrel, tiger, etc. but they're really just men wearing their respective animal's coats. :)

 

The island's jungle is home to many animals. It's brimming with berries and nuts, especially in the summer, and its trees grow so tall that they never run out of branches to swing by and jump to. Summers are usually unbearable, but the jungle is dense with various plants so it never becomes as agonizing as what the stranded penguin once described to him as the _local zoo_.

 

"Tell me more," Baekhyun pokes a despondent Kyungsoo, who had been washed ashore a week ago and is... _probably_  starting to warm up to the idea of making a home in the island.

 

"Leave me alone," The penguin tells him while staring at the waves rolling and breaking the moment they reach the sandy beach. The penguin emotionlessly sighs, "It's too hot here. I want to die."

 

"You don't mean that," Baekhyun laughs as he circles around the island's newest inhabitant to poke the latter's cheek. "Come on, tell me more stories."

 

As someone who has lived in the jungle all his life, he hasn't ever seen someone like Kyungsoo, who calls himself a penguin and is a lover of all things cold. Kyungsoo's arrival has brought novelty into his routine of gathering more berries to hoard in his tree house during daylight and of sleeping before night comes so predators don't catch him. He hasn't met a single predator yet, but other squirrels have told him that predators are very terrifying, that all it would take was one bite to end his life and swallow him.

 

If predators could end him with _just_ one bite then they must be huge. They must also have _huge_  mouths, so Baekhyun is convinced to never dare go deeper into the jungle because all the predators are said to live in the deepest parts of the jungle. Also, there is simply no way he could know what awaits beyond the water because he cannot possibly swim that far or that long, so Kyungsoo is truly his only chance of getting a glimpse of what it's like to live a life different from his own.

 

Baekhyun nudges the blank man, who has been sitting consistently by the beach for the past days while alternating between preening the black feathers of the coat in his hands and sighing at the cool blue waters. He nudges harder when Kyungsoo only sighs again, nudges until the latter picks up a flipper and just— _hits_  him with it.

 

"Ya, why did you hit me?!" Baekhyun yelps at the penguin's sudden aggression and jumps backwards, away from the flipper that remains raised in preparation to hit him. Again.

 

"Leave me alone, you damned mammal!"

 

"But I want to be friends!"

 

"Well I don't _want_  you as a friend!" Kyungsoo shouts, his big round eyes angry and trained into a glower.

 

Baekhyun scoffs, "You will! Everyone is my friend."

 

" _Oh, really?_   Is that _tiger_  your friend too?" The penguin rolls his eyes and gestures behind the other.

 

Before Baekhyun can reply, the sun behind him disappears just as a shadow looms over him.

 

He gulps.

 

"Oh, we haven't met yet," A voice replies, right behind Baekhyun, before two big paws clamp down on the frozen squirrel's arms. "But I'm sure we'll be the _best_  of friends."

 

"W-wait! Please—" Baekhyun pleads as he sees Kyungsoo's eyes shift from condescending to alarmed, widening in realization, before the penguin grabs its coat from the sand and dives into the water to leave him.

 

Kyungsoo just escaped and _left_  him.

 

 _How could he just_ —Baekhyun cries when the tiger pulls him right back on his feet because he has suddenly turned weak and drags him across the sand. He squirms, screams, and he tries to kick the big cat off. The tiger drops him without warning and _smiles_  when he attempts to run, only to be caught by a hand around his ankle and he finds himself being dragged again. He screams some more as he hugs his fur coat to his chest and struggles to escape the grasp, whimpering and clawing the soil beneath his nails.

 

It's—it's a—oh my god, it's a predator. In broad daylight. Predators shouldn't be by the beach. He had been told they never go to the beach. Why is a tiger here? Is—is he going to—

 

The birds scatter immediately upon seeing them enter the jungle, terrified by the sight of a huge saber-kin toying around with a helpless squirrel, the day's first unfortunate prey. There's no clamoring or chirping from the tree tops, no one who dares to look at Baekhyun. Everyone has suddenly gone missing.

 

"Forget the little bird. Why don't you be friends with me instead?" The big man cruelly laughs and just throws him on the dirt after they reach a cave.

 

It's—it's the saber-kin's den, and it smells like... he doesn't know _what_  it is, but he knows it doesn't smell pleasant. It doesn't smell like he'd make it out alive. He scampers and attempts to escape again, only to be grabbed by his coat, strapped over his smaller shoulders, and thrown to the back of the cave.

 

"D-don't eat m-me," He wants to cry. Save him, please save him. "Please, I-I just—"

 

The tiger—a tall man with rounded, but sharp eyes, and a white-furred coat hanging over his own shoulders—smiles at him in mock ponder.

 

Baekhyun has—he has heard of the man before. He'd been told of the predators that live deep in the jungle before. It's very hard to miss the largest and strongest of them all, and even harder to bargain for life than if it were with the bear or the wolf. The tiger, the only saber-kin inhabiting their jungle—

 

"Chanyeol," The tiger tells him, just as he squeaks at being thrown flat on his stomach. "I just told you my name. Now tell me yours."

 

"I'm... I'm n-not your dinner," Baekhyun shakily replies at the sudden weight on his back, at the hand plucking his squirrel coat off him to rub his naked side. He shudders at having his hips lifted up for him and he whimpers when his backside meets a hard body, forcing him to rest on his knees while his head remains pressed to the ground. The big cat finds either his fear or his reply amusing, perhaps both, and chuckles from on top of him before the tiger bites lightly on the shell of his ear.

 

"You're right, because you're just my snack," Chanyeol says as he squeezes on the squirrel's thigh and enjoys the tiny distressed whimper that escapes the tinier man's lips.

 

Baekhyun only realizes he's been holding his breath when the tiger unlatches from him, leaving him with only the erratic beating of his heart and the cold from being so exposed. He's shivering from fear, not from the cold, and it doesn't subside even after Chanyeol throws his fur coat back over him to cover his body. It—it feels humiliating, to struggle to even pull his coat back on his shoulders, when his hands—when he just _won't_  stop shaking.

 

He's not brave enough to look behind him to know just how close the man is to him. He can feel it, however. He can _feel_  the stare on his back.

 

"Ah, you look really delicious," Chanyeol sighs. "It'd be a waste of such a pretty face if I tear you open now though, so I'm just going to have to eat you some other time."

 

 _Some other time?_   Baekhyun swallows, hands clenching his coat's long fluffy tail. "You... you intend to keep me?"

 

"Yes," The tiger replies without hesitation. "Why would I let you go and risk having someone else eat you?"

 

" _No_ , I don't wa—please, let m-me go," The smaller man cries. All he wanted was to hear Kyungsoo's stories and pluck the new berries he planted afterwards. "Please j-just—let me go."

 

He muffles his pathetic sounds when he hears the big cat growl in response, not wanting to upset the tiger and to be killed for it, especially when the latter lunges and he finds himself shoved on his back this time.

 

"You're not leaving this den unless I take you with me or until _I_  say so," Chanyeol snarls--an overwhelming force for a squirrel as already spooked as Baekhyun. " _You're_  mine now. You are _mine_  until I decide to eat you, do you understand?"

 

Baekhyun sobs and shuts his eyes close, letting more tears stain his face. He just stays there frozen where Chanyeol leaves him, even after the tiger goes and disappears into the jungle to hunt for meat.

 

Eventually, he forces himself to move to the deepest corner of the den. There, he tucks his tail inside his arms and curls into a ball.

 

For the first time in his life, Baekhyun cries himself to sleep.

  

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

The growling of his stomach stirs Baekhyun awake. He opens his eyes and blinks a few times more, wondering why his surroundings remain dark—until his memory fills him in and he's reminded that he isn't in his tree house. He isn't ever going to see his own house, and he'll never get to pick his favorite berries again.

 

"I left some for you," The deep voice that can only be Chanyeol's suddenly says, keeping him from going back to sleep and ignoring the dizzying hunger. "Meat is good."

 

Baekhyun lifts his face slightly, just in time to watch orange spring to life from the fire that the tiger starts. It's finally warm, and he can finally see again. He also sees the meat thrown a couple of feet from him. He feels sick, but he has already exhausted himself to the point of being even unable to gag. Instead of taking the offered meat, the squirrel just crosses his arms over his knees to rest his head on them.

 

"Aren't you hungry?" Chanyeol asks. "I just gave you food. Eat."

 

"I don't eat meat," Baekhyun weakly mutters, too weak that the tiger doesn't hear and repeats himself. He hasn't had anything to eat today at all, but he can't eat meat. He genuinely cannot eat what predators eat.

 

"Ya, you tiny animal, why aren't you eating? Do you want to die?" Chanyeol asks again, irritated now, before he hears the tiger approach and he's yanked forward towards the meat instead. "What's wrong? Don't you like deer? Would you rather I hunt rabbits?"

 

The squirrel shakes his head.

 

"Then _what_?"

 

"I... I only eat berries," Baekhyun replies, braving to glance at the red mess and at the bigger man's eyes. "I can't eat anything else."

 

Chanyeol appears to consider this, before unhanding him and grunting.

 

"You will starve then," The tiger says. "Because I only eat meat."

 

The smaller man almost says he doesn't mind, that maybe it's better to get it over with. Maybe it's better to tell the hunter to go right ahead and eat him. At this point, no matter what he does, the only choice would be to let Chanyeol devour him. All choices lead to Chanyeol devouring him.

 

Baekhyun uses his coat as a blanket and watches the other man settle at the entrance of the den, right before he closes his eyes to sleep again. He dreams of waking up in the middle of the night, of Chanyeol nuzzling his hair, before everything goes black again.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  

 

"Hey. Squirrel. Ya, wake up."

 

 _I don't want to_ , Baekhyun whimpers as he tries to cling onto sleep, but is left no choice but to wake entirely when a large hand nudges him from his warm corner. He rubs his sleepy eyes and groans at the crick in his neck before his vision clears into the image of Chanyeol. The tiger has his own head tilted while looking at him, as if checking to see if he were still breathing.

 

The squirrel backs up at the proximity, surprised at having the man so close to him. He releases a panicked squeak and suddenly finds his mouth occupied by sweetness when Chanyeol presses a berry between his lips. He almost chokes, conflicted between letting a tiger feed him another wild diceberry and cowering because the tiger might bite him while he's distracted.

 

"Keep eating. You had nothing to eat yesterday," Chanyeol says, taking another berry from his makeshift bag made out of white tiger coat. "I don't know which berries you normally eat so I just picked everything I found."

 

"What do you mean by—" Baekhyun doesn't even get to finish before he's being made to bite another berry. It's bigger than the rest, yellow, and star-shaped, and it's a burst of sourness on his tongue when he bites off one of the tips. He immediately scrunches his face.

 

"Is it not good?" Chanyeol wonders, taking the foreign berry and staring at it before sinking his own teeth into it. He also grimaces.

 

"I thought I already threw that one away," The tiger hisses, scrunching his nose at the remains of the offending berry and puts it back. He separates it from the rest, of course.

 

"'Already'?" Baekhyun questions as he dares to move slightly closer, eyeing the amount of hand-picked fruits. He can spot his favorites among them.

 

"I tried them all so I'd know they're edible. They're... okay. I suppose. Nothing to give up meat for," Chanyeol replies and makes himself comfortable again, sitting cross-legged and cradling his pelt container in the gap between his thighs before resuming to feed his smaller hostage. "I threw away the bitter ones."

 

Although wary, Baekhyun shallowly nods and lets himself be fed. He doesn't feel like moving. No, more like he can't because he's weak from all of yesterday's crying and the starving he subjected himself to. All the depressing thoughts seem to alleviate when he has something else to burn in his stomach now other than fear.

 

He... he was so sure that Chanyeol was going to let him starve. Didn't Chanyeol say that yesterday? Chanyeol had taken offense when he rejected the tiger's kill. Chanyeol had been angry with him yesterday, so why would he—why would Chanyeol gather food for him today?

 

"Is this enough for you?" Chanyeol asks, startling him.

 

Baekhyun covers his mouth to chew first so he doesn't almost choke for a second time. He stops the hunter from just stuffing and stuffing his mouth by holding the latter's wrist, though he quickly realizes he's not supposed to touch a creature as terrifying at the taller man so he draws back just as quick. Gulping silently, he unwittingly looks right back at the tiger's eyes again. He tries to look at anything else but another pair of eyes, even resorting to stare down and— _woah_ , Chanyeol has _really_  larger hands.

 

"W-when are you..." Baekhyun quietly swallows. When Chanyeol only raises a brow, he speaks again, meekly, "Are you—a-are you trying to fatten me up?"

 

The tiger continues to stare at him, face unreadable this time. He flinches when the big hands take the berry-filled saber-kin pelt, expecting the tiger to throw the contents because he had offended the hunter again somehow, but they only proceed to place it on his own lap. Baekhyun nervously glances up at the man who's still just... looks at him.

 

"Just eat," Chanyeol commands before getting up and flexing lean arms while facing his den's entrance, oblivious to the squirrel whose own gaze is suddenly drawn to the full view of a hunter's exposed, toned torso. The tiger turns again, as if to guarantee the woodland animal is indeed nibbling on the little fruits he bothered to personally pick.

 

"We can share?" Baekhyun offers, extending out a hand that holds his most favorite berry from where he's seated in the corner. "Th-this one isn't sour."

 

"I only eat meat," Chanyeol reiterates, not harshly, before walking out of the den.

 

Baekhyun blinks at the man's back until the tiger disappears into the jungle again. He eats the rest of the berries, although not quite in disappointment, but he still saves his favorite berry for when Chanyeol comes back. Chanyeol didn't say he's not going to be eaten anymore, but then...

 

Chanyeol also didn't say it's going to be him for dinner.

  

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol shoves him again when the tiger comes back.

 

Unlike the first time, he cannot bring himself to scream as the larger body of the jungle's only saber-kin drops on him. He whimpers and tries to escape from underneath the crushing weight, but Chanyeol's arms are tight around his waist. Chanyeol is just... clinging onto him, and he probably can extract himself if he weren't scared out of his wits, but the low rumbling from the latter's throat only terrifies him more.

 

"Nngh..." The tiger is groaning, just groaning. Only until Baekhyun has calmed himself, just enough to he doesn't hyperventilate, that he realizes that Chanyeol is pale. Chanyeol's cheeks are—Chanyeol is cold, and sweating.

 

"Yeol...? Chanyeol?" Baekhyun nudges in worry, looking around for the tiger's coat that he tried his best to wash in order to put over its owner.

 

He rolls Chanyeol onto his back and smooths out the pelt on top the man, even removing his own to use it as a second blanket because the latter is shivering. His squirrel coat doesn't fit so the hunter's legs are just... sticking out. He bites his lip and mumbles reassurances, he doesn't really know whether they're for himself or the other, while scanning the den for other things he can use.

 

Baekhyun lights up the fire from last night, imitating the actions he observed until the leftover wood sparks and grows into a flame. He needs Chanyeol to stop shivering somehow, but partly panicking isn't helpful at all. What is he supposed to do? What—what happened? How can he—

 

"The berries. You ate bitter berries, didn't you? Then I... I think—Yeol, I'm going to get antidote, okay? Please don't move so much," Baekhyun says as he wipes the sweat from the tiger's forehead. "I-I'll be back—"

 

"No," Chanyeol groans, breathing heavily. "You're going to escape."

 

"I will—" He realizes the hunter's right. He can just leave now. Chanyeol is in no shape to chase him if he were to run now. He can go back to his own life.

 

If he lets Chanyeol die, he won't have to fear anyone again.

 

But he—

 

He doesn't want that. He doesn't want anyone to die. He doesn't want to leave Chanyeol to die.

 

"Please trust me. I'll be back. Trust me. I'll come back to you," Baekhyun promises, pleads from where his head rests on the other's heaving chest, before he lightly taps Chanyeol's cheek and leaves.

 

Chanyeol survives the night.

 

(Really, Baekhyun could just leave after the tiger falls into a heavy, more comfortable sleep. He knows it's a second chance to disappear from the hunter's life and pretend all this never happened. Instead, he slips back inside Chanyeol's arms and lets himself be trapped in a loose embrace.

 

He promised to come back to Chanyeol, so he did.)

  

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Ever since the first time they woke up in each other's arms, Baekhyun begins to somewhat warm up to the thought of embracing life with Chanyeol.

 

He isn't as scared of Chanyeol anymore. Ah. No, he still is, but now it's more of a mild kind of discomfort, the one that comes from being physically near someone he doesn't know well yet. He thinks the tiger feels the same way whenever either of them accidentally brushes against the other and freezes momentarily right after. Although it could be just him, who still flinches whenever Chanyeol approaches just to ask him which berries to pick for the day.

 

"Remember the purple one? The round one with dots that was this small?" He demonstrates by forming a circle with his index finger and thumb, raising it so the tiger can see it better.

 

"Yeah, I know which one," Chanyeol nods, but doesn't stop staring.

 

He waits for the taller man to go and remains standing in place. The hunter stays there as well, though. He can't really go about cleaning the den if the latter just watches him all day. It makes him self-conscious when he realizes that... Chanyeol _really_  doesn't intend to leave him just yet.

 

Eventually, he starts to fidget.

 

"Why are you staring...?"

 

"...What are you?" The tiger asks with a slightly scrunched nose and a tilted head. "You're a squirrel, but you don't look like the squirrels I've seen before."

 

Baekhyun gulps because the big cat is suddenly looming over him and scrutinizing his fur coat, even raising his arm to take a better look at the 'wing' strapped to his wrists connecting all the way down his ankles.

 

"I'm a flying squirrel," He answers, ignoring the weird feeling in his chest and the sensation of bigger hands patting him all over in wordless intrigue.

 

"You can fly?"

 

"Not... Not like birds do."

 

"Oh. Well, that's still amazing," Chanyeol says, with an adorable brightness in his eyes. "I'd like to watch you do it."

 

"You can't."

 

" _Eh_? Why not?"

 

Baekhyun steps back and mutters, "There are no trees to climb in your den."

 

"There're plenty in the jungle," Chanyeol replies as he steps forward.

 

"Yes, but I'm not allowed to go outside of your den," The smaller man reminds.

 

The tiger seems to finally realize this, becoming silent as a result, although the predator still continues to inch closer to bridge the gap between them. It just makes him even more uneasy. Even though there haven't been talks about eating him, he hasn't foolishly forgotten that he's still very much Chanyeol's snack.

 

Baekhyun gasps when Chanyeol places hands on his waist and lifts him up high, the highest that the cave's ceiling and the hunter's arms allow.

 

"What are you doing?" He questions, blinking furiously and being reminded of how much smaller he really is.

 

"Helping you fly," Chanyeol answers. "I'll be your tree for now because I can't take you with me outside yet."

 

Baekhyun, for what feels like the first time, finds himself smiling and smothering a tiny laugh.

 

"Hey, what's so funny?"

 

"No, nothing, it's just—" He wipes at the only tear of joy from the corner of his eyes and wiggles his bare toes, smiling at the tiger. "That's like saying you're going to be my new home."

 

 _Becoming my tree makes you my new home_.

 

Chanyeol doesn't find it as amusing though, nor the tiniest bit as laughable. The man's face darkens slightly, and the corners of his lips dip into a small frown. Baekhyun instantly stops smiling and starts re-evaluating what it is he just said.

 

"I-I'm sorry," The squirrel says. "I didn't mean to—"

 

"What if I want to be your home?" The tiger cuts in as he's lowered down. When he's too dumbfounded to reply, the tiger repeats himself, albeit evidently more hesitant because the latter's voice turns just a little bit softer.

 

"Never mind. Forget it," Chanyeol suddenly mutters while ruffling his own dark hair under the hood that is his saber-kin coat. The hunter pulls the tiger's head to latch more securely back on his head and shoulders before turning to finally leave.

 

"Why? Why would a tiger want to be a squirrel's tree? Why would someone like you want to be someone like me's home?" Baekhyun shouts as he asks, running to catch up before the man can step out of the den. "Ya, Chanyeol!"

 

"I just _do_ , alright? Now stop asking questions and—just tell me what you need," The tiger diffidently, but loudly, retorts in haste. "I'll bring back branches or leaves... or whatever. Just tell me."

 

"You mean it?" Baekhyun almost jumps in excitement as he hugs Chanyeol's arm and swings it happily. "Then listen well okay? I need..."

 

If he paid just a bit more attention to the large saber-kin beside him and a little less to the fingers he uses to eagerly count the materials he wants the latter to gather for him, he would have noticed that Chanyeol's ears are red.

 

He would have realized that Chanyeol never stopped staring at him.

  

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun is fluffing up their— _Chanyeol's_  new bed when he hears the crunch of the brittle, twiggy gate he set up just outside of Chanyeol's den. The noise is loud, and he cannot mistake it as the gate merely disassembling and falling apart again when the sound lasts so long and he also hears raspy snorting. He pauses, then he slowly lowers the large blanket he has just finished weaving as he prepares to take a peek.

 

Chanyeol had gone to hunt again and wouldn't be back until later, if there's game for him to chase. Otherwise, he can expect Chanyeol to come back much earlier. If the newcomer were Chanyeol, the tiger probably wouldn't destroy his best attempt at a gate.

 

_"Hey, what's this? What the hell is this doing here?"_

_"It's... they're twigs? I guess...?"_

_"Pfft, I can see that fine, genius. I meant what for?"_

 

Baekhyun scurries back to hide in the recesses of the den as soon as he catches a glimpse of something--someone tall. It's... two someones. There are two tall men standing by the mouth of the cave, looking in.

 

_"Yeol? Hey Yeol!"_

 

He covers his mouth and buries himself under the improvised covers when one of the strange animals steps inside. He feels his heart quicken when he realizes it's another hunter. It's a wolf, and just like Chanyeol's, its grey pelt dangles over the man's broad shoulders. He bites his lip so he wouldn't whimper at the sight of the grey wolf's fangs when the man scrunches his face in disgust at his ruined fence.

 

 _"Uh, I don't think he's home,"_   The other stranger says, scratching his own nape before patting its tummy. _"He's out hunting. We should start too."_

 

 _Yes please_ , Baekhyun prays as he resolves to keep still because there are two hunters at the only exit. A grey wolf and—a bear. It's a brown grizzly bear, and the fur coat on the other man's shoulders have bigger claws. They... they look bigger than Chanyeol's.

 

 _"Yeah okay. But let me just check inside,"_   The wolf mutters loudly and makes Baekhyun's heart almost stop, especially when the former smirks and adds, _"I smell something different."_  

 

 _T... They know I'm here_ , Baekhyun swallows and curses himself for being so small and defenseless. He curses himself because he knows he's scared. He shivers when he's scared. He's—he's shaking so much right now underneath the blanket as he tries to scoot to the corner as discreetly as he can.

 

The blanket is easily ripped away from him anyhow. The wolf howls in excitement and wastes no time before grabbing his arm and dragging him away from the bed, without a care whether he gets hurt in the process. He squirms in the hunter's hold, trying to break free from the grasp as he is pulled until halfway before he's unceremoniously thrown back on the rough surface of the den ground. He gasps, shaking and uneasy as he meets the bear's bare feet. It's a bear's thick brown coat on a tan man until the wolf grabs him by the hair and forces him to look up.

 

It's amber and brown. Two fierce gazes that snatch the strength right out of his limbs because of fear. His own eyes feel hot with tears.

 

Where's Chanyeol? He wants—he wants Chanyeol. He wants Chanyeol to come back right now.

 

"Well, what do we have here?" The wolf smirks. "Chanyeol learned to hoard food."

 

"A squirrel isn't enough for a meal," The bear replies, looking disinterested, but when have predators ever been picky when offered effortless meat?

 

"It's enough for a snack though."

 

"That is true," Baekhyun shies away when the bear crouches in front of him, trying to put as much distance as he can, but his effort is for naught because all it takes is for the bear to extend an arm to grip his chin. "What a shame. You have a pretty face."

 

"Chanyeol's going to be mad if we eat his food."

 

"I'm not in the mood to wrestle with an angry tiger."

 

"Pfft. Just give him meat and he'll be fine again."

 

"Sehun."

 

"Alright, alright. No eating. I'm not in the mood to go home empty-handed though," The wolf comes up behind him, away from his view. He can still hear the self-satisfaction from the canine's tone, however, especially when he's suddenly being hoisted up by large paws, hands. "How about it? Why don't you play with us, Squirrel?"

 

"Really, Hun? A squirrel? Your bitch is in heat and she's still not doing it for you?" The other hunter comments, talking in the same manner as when one talks about high or low tide.

 

"Please don't do this," Baekhyun whimpers, at the hands holding the back of his knees and at being left with no other choice but to fall back and let himself lean against a hard chest, all while the wolf parts his thighs to expose him to the bear moving closer to him—much, _much_  closer than what should be.

 

"I-I don't want to p-play with you!" He cries as he does his best attempt to push the bear away with his trembling hands, gasping unwillingly when the wolf begins to nibble on his neck. "Stop! Please, I—"

 

"If you stop struggling, maybe we can make it worth your while," The wolf rasps in his ear, making him shudder at the sharpness grazing on his skin. "Don't worry, it probably wouldn't be as painful as having a tiger inside you."

 

Baekhyun is frozen, silently crying because he cannot feel his own hands and legs anymore. He just feels cold, it's cold everywhere as two mouths assault his neck and he denies their presence by staring past the bear's head, to where the den's entrance is. He's so scared, and this—h-he hadn't felt this kind of fear with Chanyeol.

 

He'd rather make Chanyeol eat him. He'd—he'd rather do this with Chanyeol. He wants Chanyeol. He wants his tiger back. Where is he—where is Chanyeol?

 

Baekhyun quietly surrenders while he rests his head on the bear's shoulder, closing his eyes and crying hot tears at being left at the mercy of two strangers.

 

That is, until he hears growling.

 

Low, deep, and loud.

 

But most of all, _angry_.

 

"Drop the squirrel," Chanyeol's voice bellows from outside, echoing within the cave. "I fucking said to _drop_  him."

 

The bear unlatches from him immediately, just in time to meet the full brunt of a furious tiger's lunge. The wolf drops him like stone and jumps into the frenzy to pry the jungle's king off their mutual friend. It's a flurry of tangled limbs and claws then, and Baekhyun stops his stomach from turning itself inside out at all the sudden murderous intent filling the air.

 

All of it is from Chanyeol. All of Chanyeol's rage is for him. Chanyeol is angry because of him.

 

"What the fuck is up with you?" The wolf growls, sneaking a well-timed kick in the tiger's gut right after the bear lands a disorienting hook. "We were just fooling around."

 

Chanyeol merely spits the blood from his burst lip and catches the other's throat, claws clenching tightly around it.

 

"You were touching what's _mine_ ," The tiger snarls. " _He is mine_."

 

" _Okay_ , we get it! Hands off your fucking squirrel!" The bear yells as he pushes the tiger off.

 

Baekhyun releases a shaky breath as he watches Chanyeol let the wolf go with a frightening glare. Even the striped fur on the white pelt is bristled, down to the violent tail on its end. He can't... he can't entirely feel relief from inadvertent being rescued when he sees the utter rage that Chanyeol is trying to contain.

 

"You hurt your friends for your fucking food. That little tight ass better be fucking worth it," The wolf spits.

 

"Get lost," Chanyeol just says without bothering to look twice at the retreating pair of hunters.

 

Baekhyun is still numb and trembling from where he's sprawled on the ground when the tiger approaches him, still feeling a little sick and terrified right down to his bones. Chanyeol takes a deep breath and takes a look at him, self-blame evident on the predator's knit brows, before the tiger inches a little closer to rub the expanse of his cold arm.

 

Chanyeol's hands are warm. They're large and rough, just like the pairs that roamed his naked body just moments ago. Unlike them, however, Chanyeol's hands are gentle.

 

Chanyeol's claws aren't sharp when the tiger holds him, and the fur of the man's coat isn't stiff and coarse when he embraces Chanyeol. He just breaks down again and cries while his tiger hides him from the rest of the world.

 

He knew Chanyeol's arms were safety. He just hadn't realized until now that Chanyeol—Chanyeol is also everything else.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  

 

"You're free," Chanyeol suddenly says one day. "You can go."

 

Baekhyun pauses from the blanket he's weaving. It's a larger one this time, enough to cover a saberkin's toes and a little more. It's another one, because the one he made before is now battered by a wolf's claws and reminds him of the time that a tiger almost came too late for him. He pretends to not have heard Chanyeol speak and merely continues weaving.

 

"I just told you that you can leave," Chanyeol speaks again, with a slightly raised voice and an irritated tone. "Stop doing _that_  and just go."

 

Baekhyun ignores the man again. He knows the hunter is still mad while he himself admits to still being shaken. Ever since the... _encounter_... his breathing turns fast and shallow whenever he isn't sure whether or not it's Chanyeol behind him, whether or not it's Chanyeol's arms snaking around his waist. Although differently, Chanyeol is still just as shaken as he is.

 

"What if I don't want to go?"

 

" _What do you mean you_ —you should. You should go. Just go."

 

"I'm not leaving. I want to stay here."

 

"Listen to me, squirrel," Baekhyun isn't intimidated even when the tiger's hand is tight on his shoulder. "You're free to leave. Go back to your old house. Pick the berries you want. Isn't that what you've been crying over before?"

 

"Isn't eating me what you wanted before? Isn't keeping me here what you've been insisting on doing? Isn't your home my home now too?" He replies to Chanyeol, who's taking a silent, deep breath. He pays no heed to the strange, painful prickling in his chest. "Why do you want to throw me away so suddenly?"

 

"I'm not throwing you away."

 

"You're pushing me away then."

 

"Look, living your old life is better than living with me."

 

Baekhyun drops the unfinished blanket then to look at the taller man, frowning, "I lived in fear of you. How is _that_  better than enjoying life after knowing you? What makes you think I can just walk out of your den as if nothing happened?"

 

"You _can_. You should. Because I... I _can't_  keep you here. I'm not always here to watch over you, so I might as well let you go. I might as well know you're out there where you can easily fly away if anyone were to chase you, instead of here where someone can just come in and—"

 

"—and _eat_  me while you're gone?" Baekhyun finishes for him. " _That's_  what you're worried about? If you worry so much about others devouring me, then why haven't you eaten me yet then?"

 

"That's not the point here," Chanyeol argues, trying to grab his arm to drag him out of the den.

 

" _Yes_  it is! I want to know why you're suddenly pushing me away!" The smaller animal maneuvers out of the hold. No way he's letting the tiger just do this. Not to him. Not now.

 

"You brought me here because I'm your food. If I'm not even your _snack_ , then what am I? What did you keep me around for, then?" Baekhyun starts to yell. "Ya, Chanyeol, _why_  have you kept me for this long?"

 

Chanyeol doesn't make another attempt to grab him and just—bears the painless hits that he pours over the tiger's chest, remaining silent throughout the rest of his outburst. He doesn't understand. Why would this stupid cat wait this long to drag himself out of his life as forcibly as he had first entered it? Why now? What's wrong with him staying there when it hasn't been a problem before?

 

"You're so stupid. Calling me your food but not eating me, keeping me but not wanting me to be here in the first place," Baekhyun hiccups. He hates it when he hiccups because it only happens when he's crying. He doesn't want to cry about this. "Why are you so, _so_  stupid? Huh?"

 

Why would he cry about not being with Chanyeol?

 

Why would he ever cry about Chanyeol?

 

"Stop. Stop it. _Stop_  crying," Chanyeol commands. The tiger's voice will never really be anything less than loud or scary, and yet it sounds soft when he's spoken to. It sounds careful when Chanyeol stops him by holding his wrists and raising them, just so he'd stop hurting himself by trying to hurt an animal larger and stronger than he is.

 

"I want to stay here," Baekhyun sobs and keeps his head low so the tiger can't see his tears. They both know he's crying, but _still_. He doesn't want the latter to see. "I want to stay with you."

 

"But you can't," He hears Chanyeol sigh, almost as if in pain. "Why would you want to live with a tiger? With _me_?"

 

"I'm not leaving. You can't make me," He replies, and he cries even harder when Chanyeol eventually traps him in an embrace. "What's wrong with a squirrel living with a tiger, huh? I want to live with you. What’s so wrong about that? Don't you want to be with me?"

 

The answer he receives are strong arms holding him until he falls asleep, and a tiger's coat to keep him warm for the next time he opens his eyes.

 

 

  

* * *

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol's eyes are big. Everything about Chanyeol is big. Even if the tiger doesn't appear as terrifying as the first time he had seen him, Chanyeol is still so much bigger than he is, and he knows that if the tiger would only flip them over to finally sink fangs into his flesh, he wouldn't be able to do anything.

 

All it would take it one bite to truly turn him into the meal he is to predators' eyes. With no trees for him to glide over, no sharp claws to help him defend himself, he knows he'll forever be at the mercy of this man if hunger ever were to change the latter's mind. Chanyeol doesn't do anything, however, and only stares at him.

 

"I gave you a choice."

 

"You did."

 

"So why are you still here?" Chanyeol looks at him through brown eyes, in that same way he has seen the man stare at the moon at night. As if he were the most interesting thing to see amongst everything else there is. He almost can't believe he hadn't noticed it before, not until he has braved himself to sit on top of the tiger's lap and stare back. "Why are you still here?"

 

Baekhyun doesn't really have an answer. He glances at his brown, squirrel fur coat, just big enough to cover a bit more than Chanyeol's torso. Then, he looks at Chanyeol's white tiger pelt that is big enough to cover him until a little lower than his thighs. They're both crumpled somewhere else in the den.

 

"I... I haven't told you my name yet," He replies, looking down to avoid staring back at the tiger.

 

"That doesn't answer why you're on my lap," Chanyeol chuckles. "But I'd like to finally know your name."

 

Baekhyun feels his heart starting to beat fast when the other leans closer, lower, until he can feel hot breath on his neck.

 

"I-it's Baekhyun. My name is Baekhyun," He stammers as he keeps his eyes on the tiger, who is drawing shapes over his stomach before loosely encircling arms around his waist.

 

He—he trusts Chanyeol not to suddenly bite him. Somehow... somehow he trusts Chanyeol. He trusts Chanyeol with his life.

 

No, he—he trusts Chanyeol, more than enough to want Chanyeol to be part of his life.

 

"Baekhyun," The hunter whispers with that curiously deep voice. "Baekhyun...?"

 

"What... what is it?" He obliges when the arm around his waist pulls him closer and lets his chin be tilted so he has no choice but to look ahead, at the large cat.

 

He can definitely say that the face of the man holding him is handsome. Chanyeol is handsome, especially when the tiger smiles, "My fur is big on you, but will you accept it?"

 

Is—Is the tiger offering its coat to him? Is Chanyeol... is Chanyeol saying what he thinks he's saying...?

 

"Are you—are you making me yours?" Baekhyun asks, surprised, but otherwise lets Chanyeol cup his face and turn his cheeks a shade of pink.

 

The tips of the tiger's ears are red, he notices, and the hand sliding down to his nape tickles. It tickles just a little. Or does it? Does it really tickle or is it just the butterflies in his stomach fluttering their way up?

 

For the first time in Baekhyun's life, he gets a taste of something sweeter than his favorite berry when Chanyeol mouths a _Yes_  and shows him what a kiss is.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments are always appreciated <3


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